Jamil Dakwar

It is now an undisputed fact, confirmed by President Obama: the United States has executed two American citizens far away from zones of actual armed conflict and without due process. More than anything, the targeted killings of Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan in Yemen represent serious challenges to the United States’ reputation for abiding by the rule of law. The killings further complicate US foreign policy in a region currently witnessing bloody revolutions and uprisings ...

Bio

Jamil Dakwar is Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program (HRP) which is dedicated to holding the U.S. government accountable to its international human rights obligations and commitments. HRP uses a human rights framework to complement existing ACLU legal and legislative advocacy, and to advance social justice in the areas of national security, immigrants' rights, women's rights, racial justice, death penalty and children’s rights. HRP conducts human rights public education and engages in advocacy and litigation before U.S. courts and international human rights bodies. Prior to joining the ACLU, he worked at Human Rights Watch, where he conducted research and published reports on issues of torture and detention in Egypt, Morocco, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Before coming to the United States, Dakwar was a senior attorney with Adalah, a leading human rights group in Israel. At Adalah, he filed and argued human rights cases before the Israeli Supreme Court and advocated before international forums.